In the midst of this coaching search I got to thinking of which coaches over time did you fear NU opposing the most? I came up with this list:
1) Jimmy Johnson: The Canes of the 80s were practically unbeatable with him at the helm.
2) Barry Switzer: Even when NU had better teams the games were closer than they should have been. When the teams were about equal in talent OU won most of the time.
3) Urban Meyer: With all due respect to Ryan Day, Meyer took OSU from good to elite in college football.
4) Brett Bielema: This guy has owned NU in some very embarrassing ways.
5) Bob Stoops: NU eeked out a win over Stoops thanks to Suh, but beyond that Stoops has outcoached NU every time. In 2000 two relatively equal teams met but Stoops routed Solich.
6) Pete Carroll: The only meetings against Carroll's USC teams were total routs in the Callahan years. But I don't see NU having had success against his teams most years.
7) Mack Brown: NU occassionally had better teams but just couldn't get past the psyche of Texas under Brown.
8) Bobby Bowden: I feel that FSU just out-talented NU more than anything. Still, this guy was not going to make mistakes on the sideline.
9) Dennis Erickson: An often overlooked coach since he followed Jimmy Johnson, but maintained Miami at a high level and had teams that were almost as good.
10) Bill Snyder: Most of the coaches above bested NU more often than not. Still, Snyder took a nothing program and made it very good. With equal talent Snyder would win more often than not against anyone.
Obviously NU has not faced Saban and some other great coaches of the modern era. But this list I think encapsulates a lot of history and misery. Number 3 on this list is the one guy I think would take NU and make it elite in the shortest amount of time.
1) Jimmy Johnson: The Canes of the 80s were practically unbeatable with him at the helm.
2) Barry Switzer: Even when NU had better teams the games were closer than they should have been. When the teams were about equal in talent OU won most of the time.
3) Urban Meyer: With all due respect to Ryan Day, Meyer took OSU from good to elite in college football.
4) Brett Bielema: This guy has owned NU in some very embarrassing ways.
5) Bob Stoops: NU eeked out a win over Stoops thanks to Suh, but beyond that Stoops has outcoached NU every time. In 2000 two relatively equal teams met but Stoops routed Solich.
6) Pete Carroll: The only meetings against Carroll's USC teams were total routs in the Callahan years. But I don't see NU having had success against his teams most years.
7) Mack Brown: NU occassionally had better teams but just couldn't get past the psyche of Texas under Brown.
8) Bobby Bowden: I feel that FSU just out-talented NU more than anything. Still, this guy was not going to make mistakes on the sideline.
9) Dennis Erickson: An often overlooked coach since he followed Jimmy Johnson, but maintained Miami at a high level and had teams that were almost as good.
10) Bill Snyder: Most of the coaches above bested NU more often than not. Still, Snyder took a nothing program and made it very good. With equal talent Snyder would win more often than not against anyone.
Obviously NU has not faced Saban and some other great coaches of the modern era. But this list I think encapsulates a lot of history and misery. Number 3 on this list is the one guy I think would take NU and make it elite in the shortest amount of time.